A Departing Governor Defies Death Sentences

On Nov. 26, I commuted the sentences of five men awaiting execution on New Mexico’s “death row.” Now, let me review some recent state history.

No one has been executed in New Mexico since David Cooper Nelson died in the gas chamber in January, 1960. Between that time and 1974, seven men were sentenced to death. When the New Mexico death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1974, these men were given life sentences.

Four of the seven later were found to be innocent, their convictions and death sentences based on perjured testimony. But the death penalty, because of its finality, makes no provision for the falsely accused.

Another seven men have been sentenced to death since the re-enactment of the New Mexico death penalty in 1979; five convictions and death sentences were affirmed by a divided majority of the New Mexico Supreme Court; the court reversed the sentences of two others who were subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.

Thus, of the 14 men who have received a death sentence in New Mexico since 1960, four have been found innocent of the crimes charged, five have since received life sentences instead of death and five were, until Nov. 26, on death row awaiting further appeals, delays and uncertainties. The cost to society in economic terms and traumatic consequences of such appeals is intolerable.

Debate about the effectiveness of the death penalty has raged for decades and very likely will for several more. Meanwhile, crime victims continue to mount.

Total elimination of crime will never be achieved. But the vicious cycle of violence in crime must be broken, the rise in crime halted. An effective fight can only be waged through an effective plan declaring war on crime, a plan that must be fair, humane, swift and certain--must also be efficient, rational and realistic.

The United States should:

--Abolish capital punishment.

--Replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, where appropriate.

--Offer, until capital punishment is abolished, life imprisonment without parole as an alternative sentence that juries may return.

--Improve its efforts to reform or rehabilitate inmates who are ultimately returned to society.

--Provide more alternatives to sentencing, such as community corrections programs that are more effective, more humane and less costly.

--Improve the quantity and quality of existing resources to police, prosecutors, public defenders, courts and corrections departments.

--Provide victim compensation and assistance programs that are not designed for vengeance but for compassionate and practical financial relief to victims, together with medical and psychological treatment where needed.

--Work on averting or diverting the next generation of criminals, to prevent crime in the first instance. Let us attack and prevent substance abuse, child abuse, domestic violence and the glamorizing of violence in entertainment. Let us improve child care, education and job opportunities. Let us concentrate on breaking the cycle of poverty and injustice.

The death penalty is inhumane, immoral, anti-God and incompatible with an enlightened society.

Despite opposition to the death penalty by virtually every organized religion in this country, the United States stands alone among the so-called civilized and industrialized nations--joining instead with the likes of the Soviet Union, South Africa and Iran--in applying capital punishment.

Beyond considerations of morality and fairness is the cold realization that capital punishment is a false god. People cry out in bloodcurdling unison to “kill the killers,” giving themselves a false sense of security--a false sense of accomplishment--a hollow, costly, vengeful outburst of emotions. And, when the killers are killed, we have accomplished none of our crime-fighting goals as an enlightened society. Rather, we have lowered ourselves as an organized social order to the very rabble we have condemned.

The death penalty fails additional tests: it is neither swift nor certain. Rather, because of its finality, the U.S. Supreme Court has established such a maze of protections that ultimately, capital punishment is the slowest, least certain of all our penalties and consequently, the most costly--costly in both human and economic terms. The price of seeking the death penalty far outweighs the cost of incarceration for life.

Capital punishment is applied in an arbitrary and disproportionate manner. National statistics show that if you are poor, young and a minority, you are more likely to be investigated, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to death than if you are prosperous and white.

My personal beliefs do not allow me to permit the execution of an individual in the name of the state. And while many argue that I could have left office having already fulfilled my commitment that no one would be executed in the name of the state during my term as governor, without the action I have taken, that argument rings hollow. During the recent political campaigns in this state, my opponents were virtually guaranteeing executions. For me to simply walk away would make me as much an accomplice as those who would participate in their execution.

New Mexico’s life sentence means a minimum 30 years behind bars. Each of these convicted felons is serving additional sentences beyond the death sentence. They will never again set foot in society.

Polls show that the majority of Americans support capital punishment but responses to my commutations have been running 5-1 or 6-1 in favor of my actions. In shopping centers, in grocery stores and even on the ski slopes many individuals have stopped to thank me for taking this ostensibly unpopular move and to say they too believe all life is sacred. This is evidence of a deep humanitarianism not reflected in the public-opinion polls.

New Mexico has provided leadership in many areas. One of our achievements, rousing mixed feelings among citizens, was the development of the most destructive weapon known to mankind--the atomic bomb. The most powerful force of all has been defined as an idea whose time has come. It is my prayer that New Mexico will become the birthplace of another idea whose time has come--elimination of the death penalty once and for all. And in its place, the establishment of, and commitment to, a moral, just--and effective--criminal justice system.